Machines for applying films to pouring orifices of containers



Oct. 24, 1939. R, 5, FORD 2,177.625

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS TO POURING ORIFICES OF CONTAINERS Original Filed July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet l Invenfor: I 7 Robert E For-o.

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R. E. FORD 2.177.625

Original Filed July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Shet 2 MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS T0 POURING ORIFICES OF CONTAINERS Oct. 24, 1939.

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AINERS R. E. FORD Oct. 24, 1939.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS TO POURING ORIFICES OF CONT Original Filed July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Irv/editor:

AINERS R. E. FORD Oct. 24, 1939.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS TO POURING ORIFIGES OF CONT Original Fiied July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor: Robert E. Ford. wfim mm Kttqhneqs.

Oct. 24, 1939. I 5, FORD 2,177,625

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS TO POURING ORIFICES OF CONTAINERS Original Filed July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 09 we we '03 L- I06 I lo?" Inventor:

Patented Oct. 24, 1939 PATENT OFFICE MACHINES FOR APPLYING. FILMS T POURING ORIFICES OF CONTAINERS Robert E. Ford, Minneapolis,Minn., assignor to Luther Ford & Company, a co-partnership composed of Allyn K. Ford and Robert E. Ford,

Minneapolis, Minn.

Original application July 15, 1933, Serial No.

680,598. Divided and this application February 19, 1937, Serial No. 126,547

8 Claims.

. My invention relates to machines for applying films to pouring orifices of containers. It is the object of my invention to provide means for applying to the pouringorifices of containers fromv which liquids are to be poured, such as bottles, pitchers, cans and the like, a substance such as parafiin wax, which will not have any capillary afiinity for the liquid to be poured. The purpose of applying such a film is to prevent dripping of the liquid that is poured.' This is eifected by reason of the fact that when the container is restored 150' containing position the surface tension of the liquid going back into the container will be greater than any tendency of the liquid to cling to the filmed surfaces of the orifice, with the result that the liquid on the rim of the bottle neck will be drawn back oversaid surface and return to the container and none of it will drip from any part of the orifice. That is, the prepared or filmed surface will be such that no part of the liquid being used will cling thereto. If water were allor any considerable part of the liquid, the surface would not be wet thereby.

More specifically it is an object of -my invention to'provide mechanisms for applying a film of drip-free material, such as parafiin wax, to the exposed or outside portions of the rim and neck of bottles immediately surrounding the pouring orifice, and to make this drip-free film so thin 30 and adherent that it will not crack or break away in the use of the bottle and in the repeated application of a stopper thereto, but will remain permanently attached, so that the container will continue to be free fromdripping over its entire period of use. Such film must be made very thin'and should not enter the interior of the neck of the bottle, and, above all, should not have globules or thickened portions which would be knocked oif and destroy the drip-free character 40 of the pouring orifice.

It is an object of my invention, therefore, to provide amachine having a receptacle for liquidrepellant material such as parafiin wax which maybe circular or annular-in contour, having 45 associated with the receptacle means for heating said material to causeit to melt and have a high temperature, employing in conjunction with said receptacle a rotatable member adapted to'dip into the melted wax or other material sodunng t f t ro at d tote heated thereby and to move out of said melted material during a further part of its rotation, said rotatable member acting to receive the necks of bottles on the portion out of the melted material and preliminarily heat said bottle necks and then to pass through the melted material.

It is a further object of my invention to provide means for conveying the bottles to and from the aforesaid rotatable member in such manner that after taken from the rotatable member op- 10 portunity for drainage will be effected.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and the novel features of my invention'are particularly pointed out in the claims.

This application is a divsion of my application Serial Number 680,598, filed July 15, 1933.

In the drawings, illustrating the features of my invention,

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of part of a bottle having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the neck of the bottle shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal part sectional view of a form of the apparatus for carrying out my invention taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a plan View of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4a is a fragmentary plan view of the vertical intermittent bottle shifter showing a modified carrier construction. Fig. 4b is a fragmentary elevation view of a portion of said carrier to show the same construction. Fig.

5 is a sectional elevation view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation view on line B6.of Fig. 4. Fig. '7 is a sectional elevation View on line 'l'l of Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation view on line 8-8 of Fig. 4. Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation View taken on line'99 of Fig. 4. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan view taken on line IIJI0 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation view on line |l--ll of Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation view of another form of apparatus for carrying out my process taken on line l2l2 of Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a part sectional plan view taken on line l3-l3 of Fig, 12. Fig. 4.5 14 is a sectional elevation view on an enlarged scale taken on line l4l4 of Fig. 13. I

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown the upper part of a bottle II and a transverse sectional view of the neck 10 of the bottle after it has had a film of material applied thereto. This film l2 will be formed about the expanded neck portion t3 as a circumferential film l2, and upon the top of the expanded neck portion at l4, but will not enter the inside of the pouring orifice l5.

In the machine of Figs. 3 to 11 for automatically and rapidly performing the operations to efiect the desired application of said film there are two rotating carriers, one, 16, being mounted on a horizontal shaft I! supported upon frame legs l8 and [9, said shaft having bearings 28 and 2| in transverse frame pieces 22 and 23. The second carrier comprises a horizontal rotatable table 24 of a semiconical shape as indicated at 25 in Fig. 7, which is provided with a surrounding gear 26 and is journalled on a thrust bearing 21 held in a casting 28 for vertical adjustment by means of a threaded hand nut 29, whereby the table 24 may be raised or lowered as desired. The casting 28 is secured to a transverse frame piece 30 by means'of a bolt 3! upon which the same is pivoted and a bolt 32'passing through an oblong slot 33 in an ear 34 on casting 28. "By means of a set-bolt 35 in Fig. '7 the casting piece 28 may be rocked upon pivoted bolt 3| more or less to place the table 24 more or less at an angle to the vertical fora purpose hereinafter to be stated.

The casting 28 is provided with a table 36 upon which is supported an annular trough member 31 formed above a mass of insulating material 38. The trough member 37 is adapted to hold the wax or other material as indicated at 39 which is kept in a properly fluid and heated condition by means of electrical heating ele ments 40 served by wires ti. The trough member 37 'h'assecured thereto an annular wall 33 to which is secured in spaced relation a second annular wall 44, being held in position by washer nuts 45, said Walls 43 and 44 forming an annular passage 42 as clearly shown in Figs.

3 and 7. .And this carrier will, by reason of its of the carrier 24,.as appears from an inspection of Fig.7. In some cases, however, it'is desirable to keep the bottles in the wax only part of the time, in which case by means hereinbefore described, thecarrier and table may be tilted and the bottles then will dip into'the waxat one side only and preliminarily .heat and drain at the other side.

As clearly appears from Fig. 7, the carrier 56 embodies a multiplicity of pockets- 4'! each adapted to hold one of the bottles 46, and the carrier l6 moves the bottles 46 in a'vertical plane across the channel 42 and above the carrier 24 operative in a horizontal plane. Referring to Fig. 10.:two chutes enter the channel 42 from opposite sides to admitthe introduction into said channel of a bottleby carrier Hi and the simultaneous withdrawal of a treated bottle on the other side. The introduction chute 38 is formed by wing plates t9 and 50, and thewithdrawal chute 5! is formed by wing plates 52' and 53.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the Width of the top surface 5 5 of the carrier I6,

andalso the widths of the plates fifiiorming the;

pockets 41, is only a little more than one-half as great as the transverse dimension ofthe bottles to be handled. Also, that the guide plates 59 and 50 at one side and 52 and 53 at the other side of the channel 42 (Figs. 4 and 10) are separated the same distances, sufficient comfortably to receive a bottle across one of its dimensions, but that these plates do not lie in the same vertical planes but plate 19 outside of the channel 52 is positioned close to one side of the vertical plane of carrier l6 and plate 52 inside of a vertical extension of channel M. is positioned cloe to the other vertical limit of carrier 55. For this reason bottles moved by carrier ifiare displaced laterally with respect to one another, as clearly indicated by full-line bottledesignated 5G and dotted-line bottledesi'gnated 5'! in Fig. 3.

A guideway formed by side rails 5-8 and 59 has at its bottom supporting plates iii; and iii separated at 62 with a plate 532 bridging the gap there: An endless conveyor 6% runs over the plate GI and forms the bottom of the guideway at that point, and a second endless conveyor overliesplate til and discharges upon a receiir'ng plate 66 at its front end immediately in front of the carrier l6, 'as'clearlyshown in Figs. 3 and 4. j

Power for driving the various instrumentalities is furnished by motor 61 transmitted through belt and pulley arrangement E8 to gear boxes which operates drive shaft 36, and a cam Wheel H at one'end thereof carrying a cam actuator '52 adapted to engage in slots 73 of a star wheel 'Mmounted on shaft H, which alsohas on it the carrier 16, which arrangement :gives said carrier an intermittent step-by-step rotary motion in a vertical plane. The other end of said shaft 70 has thereon a spur gear 75 adapted to mesh with change speed gearing it onshaft ll.

Through bevel gearing l8 and spur gears l9, 8t!

the belt conveyors 64 and 65 aresdriven at different speeds, conveyor 64 being driven more rapidly than the conveyor 55, whereby bottles loosely stacked in the runway above conveyor 64 will be pushed'forward and caused to contact in fixed relation above conveyor 65.

From shaft 1'! there is driven by means of bevel gearing 8| a vertical shaft 32 supported by a thrust bearing on a bracket t3 and adapted to be lifted vertically for a purpose hereinafter to be described. Upon the lower end of shaft 82 is a spur gear 84 adapted when in its lower position to mesh with the gear 26 on the horizontal carrier 24, .as shown in Figs. 9 and 11. When in operative position the spur gear 8 willbe running in the melted wax or other material to be applied to the bottle as shown in Fig. 11. When the machine is out of operation the shaft 82 and the gear 84 will be lifted to take the gear out of said wax.

The operation of these instrumentalities will now be described. Bottles will be stacked loosely in the guideway upon conveyor 64 with the necks of the bottles erected, whereby said bottles will be caused to contact in a row above conveyor 65 and willbe moved in contact from said conveyor upon plate .66. The feed of conveyor 65 is timed supporting plate 86. At thenext operation the bottle in; the dotted-line position '85 will' be pushed from the supporting plate 86 to a rotat-.

ing down through chute 48 'a bottle on the carrier'in the dotted-line position 51 of Fig. 3, a bottle will be introduced into the channel 4?, where its head will contact with the rotating table 24. Bottles will so continue to be introduced until the entire channel 42 is filled, as shown in Fig-10, after which a bottle Will be withdrawn from its compartment 41 timed with the succeeding operation of vertical carrier IE to introduce another bottle into channel 42. At a succeeding operation of the vertical carrier 16 the bottles in the channel 42 will have the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 10. That is, a a bottle indi- -'catedin'dotted-lines at 88 will have the forward part only above the carriertop 54 at the moment of actuation of carrier ifiywhich will take the bottle but of channel 42 in the position on carrier l6 indicated 'in full lines by bottle 56 in Fig. 3. At the same time, a new bottle coming down through passageway 48 will go with this compartment 41 into the channel 42 and will be removed therefrom by continued rotation of the table 24. In this manner the bottles will be successively fed to the passageway 42 with their thickened neck portions just adapted to dip into the fluid hot wax substance 39, andwill remain therein (either for a full revolution or for a part of a revolution, according to the adjustment of the table as horizontal ortilted) during an entire revolution of said table 24. After the bottles have been withdrawn they will be lifted step by stepjto the upright position of Fig. 3, giving op- :portunity for melted wax to drain, and then will 'b e discharged upon receiving table 81.

n will benoted that the table 24 has the conical surface 25 any element of which forms an arc ofthe circle described by the outer edges of the bottles on carrier I6, Fig. 7. This table 24 of solid metal dips into the heatedmaterial all the way around, preferably being tipped so that its uptipped portion has" its surface continually {enter the melted wax while the down-tipped (either when the bottles pass immediately into melted wax when the table is horizontal, or when they move on the hot dry part of the table when 'it is'tilted) is to begin to heat the bottle itself "and the air within the bottle.

This heating of the airhasthe effect of course of expanding the air, which tends to make it flow out of the neck of the bottleall around the lip thereof, and which positively holds the Wax back from contacting with the inside of the neck and prevents the formation of a film of wax on the inside of the bottle Where it is not desired. Throughoutthe entire circuit on the platform or table 24 this heatingand expansion of air will continue, small bubbles of-air passing out all around the inner edge of the neck of the bottle so when the bottle leaves the melted wax it will be practically entirely free from a film of wax on the inside of the bottle. The wax forms upon the upper edge of the lip about the neck of the bottle and over the outside for a short distance, but not on the inside of the cylindrical part of the neck, which is very desirable, since it might otherwise interfere with the use of stoppers and also the film would be broken by the employment of stoppers.

Where table 24 is tilted the bottles will come into the plane of vertical carrier l6 partially drained on account of passing up upon a partially-dried surface. Where table 24 is horizontal the bottles will, of course, have the rim of the neck still fully immersed. When the vertical carrier 55 removes the bottles the rim of the bottle continues to contact with the surface 25 of table 24, as shown in Fig. 7. Since the conical surface 25 is hot, and at this point dry, rubbing the said rims in contact with such hot, dry surface removes the excess material or wax on the outer edge of the rim which slowly runs down said hot surface 25 until when that portion of the surface has completed another complete revolution it will again be substantially dry. The bottle lifted to the position shown in Fig. '7 in contact with surface 25 remains in this draining position during the rest between steps, and is further rubbed in the next succeeding step and cools during the next two rests and steps, which will bring the bottle vertical, where it is pushed off on the revolving table 81, where it is fully cooledand the wax completely hardened, the resulting film of wax being exceedingly thin and alpositioned for introduction into the compartments 4! from the conveyor 65, I may employ the construction shown in Figs. 4a and 4b, wherein cams M! are provided at the sides of the container portions of the bottle-containing pockets '41 onthe vertical rotating carrier Hi. It follows that as ,this cam l4! passes the bottle-holding platform 66 it will hold back the nearest adjacentbottle 46 until a pocket 4'! in in position to receive a bottle, thus insuring against feeding of untreated bottles ofi" of the carrier Hi to platform 86, and insuring accurate positioning of the bottles in the several succeeding pockets, and securing against breakage.

T In the form of device for applying my process illustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 14, I employ a large wheel-like table member 98, its hub 9| supportedon a thrust bearing 92 to rotate about a shaft 93 suitably supported by a pedestal 94 in such manner that the plane of the table is slightly tilted from the horizontal. The outer periphery of the table 9!! carries an insulated annular trough member 95 adapted to contain melted wax with a multiplicity of spaced heating elements as hereinafter described. The table is rotated slowly, in practice it requiring about one minute for each complete revolution. Owing to the tilt the annular carrier bar 96 for receiving the edges ofthe rims of the bottles will have its surface immersed in the wax for a part of said revolution. in practice about one-third, and said surface will be. out'of the wax for the rest of the period of the revolution. All of the carrier, however, will have its body portion immersed in the heated wax and. the surface will .be heated. to substantially the temperature of the meltedwax throughout the entire circumferencethereof. In consequence of this operation the surface out of the wax will be hot and in large'part will be dry. The bottles placed upon this surface near the center of the dry portion will be preheated before reachingthe wax, thus heating the air within the bottles and starting its expulsion around the rim to prevent inflow of wax to the inside of the bottle neck. The bottles will be moved through the heated wax and then will be carried along the part of the uptilted carrier bar in a draining position for about a'third of the revolution with the rim of the bottle in contact with the hot surface of the annular carrier bar. This will result in substantially complete drainage before the bottle reaches the point of withdrawal, which is of course near the same point where it was put on the runway.

An advantageous feature of tilting the wheel table 90 comes from thefact that thereby the melted wax in the annular chamber or trough 95 is given a continuous Wave-like current movement through said trough, whereby its temperature is maintained uniform, and there will be no hot spaces over and cold. spaces between the heater elements hereinafter described. And, specifically, annular supporting band 95 is held by means of bolts 9? spaced from the walls of the trough as clearly indicated at 58 in Fig. 14, and also at each side in Fig. 12. In the bottom of the annular trough 95 are a series of heating elements 59 supplied with electricity from the lead wires lilll, Ml, 682, 103, Hi l and I85, which wires run to annular contacts M6 on a supporting table it], said contacts being fed with electrical current from wires I08 carried from electrical cable 35.; As shown by dotted line N0, the plane of the trough 95 is at a slight angle to the horizontal, so that if liquid wax therein at one side, as indicated at SM, is even with or slightly below the top of the supporting annular band 96, the wax at the other side, as indicated at H2, willhave a suitable depth for immersing the protruding part of the neck of the bottle. By means of suitable power connected with cable or belt l I 3 surrounding the outside of the trough member 95 the entire mechanism will be driven at a suitable speed. The operator standsin a given position, as at i M, and puts bottles into the trough at one side and, withdraws them from the trough at the other side, where they may go to a bottling machine or to packing and storing facilities. The supporting band 96 everywhere overlying waxand heating elements will be very considerably heated, which will graduallyheat the bottles, the neck of course being heated first.

I claim:

1. A machine for treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them non-dripping, which comprises an annular receptacle for liquid-repellant material such as paraffin wax, means forheating said material to cause it to melt and have a high temperature, a rotatable disc dipping beneath the surface of said melted wax, andtraveling means for delivering bottles successively with their rims in engagement with said dis to be moved thereby.

2. A machine for treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them non-dripping, which com:

1 ing said material to cause it to melt and have a high temperature, a rotatable disc dipping beneath the surface of said melted wax, an annular guideway above the outer limitsof said disc,and

means for delivering bottles successively with their rims in engagement with said disc to be moved along said guideway thereby.

3. A machine for treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them non-dripping, which comprises an annular receptacle for. liquid-repellant material such as parafiin wax, means for heating saidmaterial to cause it to melt and have a high temperature, a rotatable disc dipping beneath the above the outer limits of said disc, means for delivering bottles successively with their rims in .11 surface of said melted wax, an annular guideway engagement with said disc to be moved along said guideway thereby, and means for withdrawing bottles from said disc and guideway as fresh bottles are delivered. 7 Y

4. A machine for treating the pouringrims of bottles to render them non-dripping, comprising an annular receptacle containing melted wax,.a

rotatable disc dipping beneath the surface of said melted wax, and an annular runway above said disc, means for feeding bottles continuously in erect position, and intermittently operative means for taking bottles from said feeding means and delivering them in inverted position upon said disc and intosaid runway.

5. A machine for treating bottles comprising two members rotatable in vertical and horizontal planes respectively, bottle-carrying means,

bottles to render them non-dripping, comprising i a receiving table for bottles, a'receptacle below the receiving table for holding a body of liquid repellantmaterial such as paraffin wax, means for heating said material to cause it to melt and have .a desired high temperature, means for con-- veying the bottles from the receiving table to the receptacle and for causing them to be inverted while so conveyed, means operative-for holding the bottles inverted with its rim dipped into said causing the bottles to .be returned to said conveying means for withdrawal from said melted wax.

'7. A machine for-treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them'non-dripping, comprising a receiving table for bottles, a receptacle below the receiving table for holding a body of liquid repellant material such as parafiin wax, means for heating said material to cause it to melt and have a desired high temperature, means forcon veying the bottles from the receiving table to the receptacle and for causing them to be inverted while so conveyed, means-operative for holding,

the bottles inverted with its rim dipped into said melted Wax for a desired time, means for causing the bottles to be returned to said conveying means for withdrawal from said melted wax, and means for operating the conveying means so as to hold the bottles in'draining position thereon until they have been drained.

8. A machine for treating the pou'ringrims of bottles to render them non-dripping, comprising a receiving table for bottles, a receptacle below the receiving'table for holding a body of liquid 5 melted wax for a desired time, and means for for causing the bottles to be returned to said conveying means for withdrawal from said melted wax, and means cooperating with said conveying means to effect wiping of the bottle rims after they have been withdrawn from the melted 5 WELX to remove EXCESS wax.

ROBERT E. FORD. 

